BARRE — A Barre Town man has been charged with lying about his identity during an incident Sunday night in Montpelier when police say he knocked a trash can lid into the road and tried to take a police officer’s pistol out of its holster.

Todd Provencher, 34, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Washington County criminal court in Barre to a misdemeanor charge of giving false information to a police officer in attempting to implicate another. If convicted, he faces a maximum of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

According to the police affidavit, an officer was parked at the Montpelier Fire Department on Main Street when he saw Provencher knock the trash lid into the roadway. The officer approached Provencher and told him to go back to the trash container so he could speak with him. Police say Provencher complied, saying he would put the lid back on.

Provencher looked to be heavily intoxicated, slurring his words and unsteady on his feet, according to the affidavit.

Police say Provencher tried several times to put the lid back on the trash container, but it kept falling off, and he began to pound on the lid with his hands. Once the lid was back on, police say, Provencher was asked to talk with police, but he started to walk away instead. Provencher then started to run, and police chased him. Police say that when they caught up with him and tried to restrain him, Provencher fell and an officer tried to get control of him.

While Provencher was on the ground, police say, he tried to take the officer’s gun out of its holster. After several moments of struggling, police say they were able to gain control of Provencher and put him in handcuffs. During the scuffle, police say, an officer suffered a cut and bruise to a finger on his left hand.

While being searched, police say, Provencher grabbed hold of an officer’s expandable baton from the officer’s belt but was eventually placed in the cruiser and taken to the Montpelier police station for processing.

At the station, police say, Provencher told them he was Berry Jones, 41, but a check of the Department of Motor Vehicles database did not show anyone with that name or birth date. A state identification card was found on Provencher that showed his actual identity.